Writer's Block

After this week's  post on inspiration I thought that I would talk about Writer's Block. All of my writing teachers told me that writer's block does not exist and I agree. If I really wanted to I would be sitting down and writing whether I 'felt' like it or not. No I am not talking about being run down from life and just not having the energy to write. Or having to do life so that you have not time. I am talking about the people who can only write when they 'feel' like it. I am not one of those. I know that last week's post sounds like it but I know that if I really wanted to I would be writing more than just this blog, my book review blog and whatever grad school needs. For me it is a matter of discipline. It is very annoying for me because I want to have more discipline and I just have no idea about how I get it.

Writer's block is for what people use when they just do not want to write or they want to do something else more. There is nothing wrong with that but do not claim that the words are just not flowing. Be honest that you just do not want to write at the moment; there is nothing wrong with not wanting to write. But do not lie to others and yourself. Lying never helps anything, just in case you did not know that already. Now about handling just not feeling like writing. This does work for me but think about what could work for you. When I know that I need to sit down and write I make myself a chart. On it will have all the things that I need to get done that day or week. I look at the time that I have free and I pick whatever time I think would work best for writing. Then I sit down and make myself write. That could be anything from outlining future projects, editing, writing the novels or short stories or rereading what I have written. I do separate editing and rereading because I think that you should just read what you have written. Decide if you like it or not. Remember not to be too hard on yourself, let the story stand on its own. One really good thing about doing things on a schedule it that you will wire your brain to think about writing when the time comes around. We are creatures of habit so use that to your advantage.

See you next week and happy writing!